The invention relates to the technical field of machines for dispensing wipes made of paper, cellulose wadding, crxc3xaape paper or similar materials intended, in particular, for wiping users"" hands, the dispensing of toilet paper and paper towels. The paper may be in folded or unfolded form.
The Applicant has developed numerous patents for dispensers of the above-mentioned type, both automatic and semi-automatic, for dispensing strips of paper from a load reel.
The reels of wipe material can be presented in two ways:
Either the reel is mounted on a spindle or core that is physically joined to the housing of the machine so that it exposed the lateral face and diameter of said frontally mounted reel, making it possible to view the wound turns and the amount that has been dispensed.
Or the reel is mounted between two reel-holder end flanges arranged at right angles to the rear wall of the housing making it possible to present the reel lengthways.
This invention refers more specifically to the dispensing of coiled wipe materials in the above-mentioned first version.
The main components of such a machine, as described in French Patent 2.332.215 which is applicable to the various above-mentioned versions are briefly summarised below. A machine for dispensing material wipes, referred to in its entirety as (1), comprises a housing (2), a cover (3), a drum (4), a cutting device (5-6) built into the drum as well as means of starting and returning the drum including a cam (7) and a spring (8). The upper part of the housing is designed with means of support (9) capable of accommodating the reel of wipes (B) to be dispensed.
A machine of this type is generally used to dispense toilet paper or paper towels or paper hand wipes.
The tensile force exerted by the user on the strip of paper is liable to vary considerably and may be a greater or lesser force, not to mention the direction of the tensile force which can be an additional parameter that affects the operation of the dispensing machine. Exerting such a variable force may produce loops between the reel of wipe material and the drum over a length of strip that can be several centimeters or even several dozen centimeters long.
In order to overcome this drawback, the Applicant developed anti-loop devices, particularly in Patent FR No. 2.643.808. These anti-loop devices use swivelling-lever assemblies that are mounted relative to the reel holder and capable of having a swivelling effect in order to reduce or compensate the forming of loops and tension the strip of material. Such assemblies operate very satisfactorily but are likely to obstruct the loading of the machine since they face and are in the frontal plane of the reel of material.
The Applicant has developed, in its patent application FR 98.06702, an anti-loop device which is particularly applicable to dispensing machines that have lateral end shields to accommodate a reel holder and are therefore equivalent to the second version as stated earlier. The device described in this patent involves devising the reel holder end shields with an end fitting which allows the reel to be mounted with an elastic return means once it has been subjected to a tensile force.
The arrangements described in this patent application are strictly applicable to a presentation of the reel of wipes in a position where it faces the opening in the cover of the machine.
The object sought after according to the invention was to design the dispensing machine for applications involving presentation of reels of wipes in the frontal plane of the machine in order to ensure an anti-loop effect.
Another object sought after by the invention was to ensure the reel was locked in position on its support spindle.
These objects and others will become apparent from the rest of the description.
According to a first characteristic, the dispensing machine for wipe material with the reel in a frontal position of the type comprising a housing, cover, drum, cutting device built into the drum, means of starting and returning the drum including a cam and a start spring is distinctive in that it comprises a device to prevent loops in the material paid out from the reel of material, said device being distinctive in that it comprises a reel holder capable of engaging and positioning itself on a fixed support forming a hub that is physically joined to the rear wall of the bottom of the housing, said reel holder being rotatably mounted on the support in opposition to an elastic return means and in that said reel holder is designed to position itself on a long bearing surface of the support, being locked into position relative to the latter and in that the reel holder co-operates with the spindle or core of the reel of wipe material in order to drive it.